The War on Women: An Update on the Outrage

The U.S. Congress and many state legislatures are about half-way through their legislative sessions, and the midterm grade is not good news for women.

NARAL Pro-Choice America summarized that what we predicted following the 2010 elections has come to fruition: we face an unprecedented wave of attacks on women's freedom and privacy in Congress and the states.

Anti-choice politicians who campaigned on jobs and less government are now waging a War on Women that opens the door to even more government interference in personal decisions.

They started with pointed attacks on the health-care reform law that continue to today. In the past month, we witnessed House Speaker John Boehner's willingness to shut down the entire government over women's access to birth control, Pap smears, breast-cancer screenings and many other types of preventive health care.

Fortunately, President Obama and pro-choice leaders in the Senate stood strong against this attack.

H.R.3 already has 227 co-sponsors. This means that if a vote were held today, this bill would pass the House!

One thing that strikes me is the hypocrisy of the lawmakers who are behind this agenda.

These so-called small government politicians are opening the door to more political interference in our personal, private decisions at every turn.

This is not some abstract debate about politics. The anti-choice agenda threatens women's access to legal abortion, birth control, cancer screenings, and other health-care services. It is out of touch with our country's values and priorities.

While the War on Women rages in Washington, D.C., state lawmakers are following suit. NARAL Pro-Choice America is currently tracking more than twice as many anti-choice bills in 2011 as were introduced in all of 2010. At last count, we're tracking 427 bills, compared to 175 last year.

We are monitoring five key trends this year: abortion-coverage bans, Nebraska copycat bans, mandatory-ultrasound legislation, "personhood" measures, and race- and sex-based attacks. In all five cases, the news for women is dire.

23 states have filed 53 bills to ban abortion coverage in state exchanges or statewide, including the private market.

15 states are looking to copy Nebraska with abortion bans, three of which have succeeded.

We are tracking 23 anti-choice ultrasound-related bills in 14 states.

"Personhood" bills -- which could ban abortion and even some common forms of birth control -- are on the docket in 14 states.

We are monitoring 8 race- and/or sex-based attacks, and Arizona has passed the first such law in the nation based on this logic.